People's / Thistle General Store

Santa Fe Ave., Daggett, CA
Phone:

East < GO > West

This little store building is over 100 years old and shows it. In the late 1800s and early 1900s this was the site of the People's General Store. According to newspaper articles from the time pretty much everything near the adjacent Stone Hotel burned down in 1908, so it's probable that this building was constructed after that.

When it became the Thistle Store isn't clear, bit in 1917 the Thistle Store was where young men between the ages of 21 and 30 went to register for conscription (military draft) for WWI. A 1954 newspaper story referred to the building as the Thistle Store. A news article in 1979 said the lettering read "The Thistle Store - General Merchandise and Notions". In 2013 some of that very faint lettering was still visible on the false front at the top of the building, but it was very hard to read.

The building was fenced off when we where there, hopefully for a little restoration. It is located on Santa Fe Street just east of Mills St.

A few boards are missing from the top of the false front. The store and the Stone Hotel next door were acquired by the San Bernardino County Museum Association in 1977 with the intention of future restoration.

Time has taken its toll on the siding on this little store. The corrugated metal roof, though rusted a bit, seems to have held up better. I'm struck by how short some of the siding boards are.

Photo(s): 2013, 2015